Collapsible pontoon type boat



July 18, 1961 L. T. SCHULER COLLAPSIBLE PONTOON TYPE BOAT T l l I l Filed March 23, 1959 W1 H1055 Maw United States Patent 2 992,444 COLLA-ISIBLE P NTO0N TYPE BOAT Leo T. Schuler, 390 8 49th St., Des Moines, Iowa Filed Mar. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 801,250 1Claim. (Cl. 9-1) This invention relates to a collapsible boat of the pontoon type and more particularly to one that may be compressed for transportation over roadways.

It has long been known that a pontoon boat, i.e., one with two spaced apart longitudinal pontoon pods is one of the most stable of all types of boats. Furthermore, such pontoon boats require less motor power to propel them and are also capable of operation in relatively shallow water. They are objectionable, however, in that the pontoon pods must be placed so far apart that the boat is too wide to be hauled over a roadway.

Therefore, one of the principal objections of my invention is to provide a pontoon type boat that may be compressed to a width for roadway transportation.

More specifically, the object of this invention is to provide a mechanically contractable and expandable pontoon boat frame structure.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a foldable pontoon type boat that is equipped with retractable highway wheels.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a collapsible pontoon boat that may be easily and quickly extended for water usages or contracted for highway travel by one person.

Still further objects of my invention are to provide a collapsible pontoon type boat that is economical in manufacture, durable in use, and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination, of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my pontoon boat,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged rear end view of the boat,

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the pontoon boat and more nully illustrates its construction, and

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the device taken on line 44 of FIG. 3.

In these drawings I have used the numerals and 11 to designate the two elongated pontoons, respectively. These pontoon pods may be of any suitable material, such as wood, plastic, steel or like. Obviously, if especially of steel, they must be hollow in order to be of high buoyancy when in the water. Extending transversely and inwardly from the tops of each of these pods are four spaced apart horizontal beams 12, 13, 14 and 15. The beams 12, 13, 14 and of one pontoon extend toward the beams 12, 13, 14 and 15, respectively, of the other pontoon. The two beams 12 have their inner end portions slidably extending into a sleeve beam 17. In like manner the two beams 13 slide into a sleeve beam '18, the two beams 14 slide into a sleeve beam 19, and the two beams 15 slide into a sleeve beam 20, as shown in FIG. 3. Each of the eight beams has a limiting headed member 21 extending through a longitudinal slot 22 in the bottom of the adjacent sleeve beam. By this telescoping construction of the beams and beam sleeves, the two pontoons may be laterally slidably moved toward each other, or away from each other. The numeral 24 designates a shaft rotatably secured to the bottoms of the sleeve beams and extending parallel to the longitudinal lengths of the pontoons. The numeral 25 designates a lever arm portion on the forward end of the shaft 24 and forward of the sleeve beam 17. The numeral 26 designates a tongue or drawbar secured to the sleeve beam 17, and is positioned under the lever arm and limits the throw of the lever arm to a one-half throw in each direction. The numerals 27 and 28 designate bearing members on the inner forward end portion of the two pontoons, respectively. The numerals 29 and 30 designate bearing members on the inner rear end area of the two pontoons, respectively. The numeral 31 designates a crank arm on the shaft. The numeral 32 designates a rod link having one end hinged in the bearing 27 and its other end hingedly secured to the crank arm 31. The numeral 33 designates a crank arm on the shaft. Pivotally connecting the bearing 28 and the crank arm 33 is a rod link 34. The numeral 35 designates a crank arm on the shaft. Pivotally connecting the bearing 29 and the crank arm 35- is a rod link 36. The numeral 37 designates a crank arm on the shaft. Pivotally connecting the bearing member 30 and the crank arm 37 is a rod link 38. The crank arms 31 and 33 extend radially from the shaft in opposite directions and the crank arms 35 and 37 extend radially from the shaft in opposite directions. Thus, by throwing the lever arm in one direction, the pontoons will be moved toward each other and by throwing the lever arm in the opposite direction, the pontoons will be moved away from each other, as shown in FIG. 4. Secured to the sleeve beams is the boat deck or platform 39. Any suitable outboard motor supporting shelf may be installed on the rearmost sleeve beam. The numeral 52 designates a platform board hinged at its inner side edge to the outer side edges of the main deck or platform. The numeral 53 designates a platform board hinged at its inner side edge to the other outer side edge of the main deck or platform. These two board platforms are capable of swinging upwardly and inwardly from the adjacent beams 12, 13, 14 and 15. When the pods are extended and the board platforms are resting horizontally on their respective beams 12, 13, 14 and 15, they form with the platform 39 a common top boat surface. The numeral 55 resignates a cabin or like compartment on the platform 39. The numeral 56 designates a detachable fence railing on each of the board platforms 5'2 and 53. The numeral 57 designates a detachable fence railing on the front edge of the platform 39 detachably engageable with the fence railing on the platform boards. In the bottom of each of the pods is a wheel well 58. Rotatably mounted through each Well is a U-shaped crank arm 59 rotatably supporting a wheel 60. When the wheels are retracted in the wells for water travel, the U-shaped crank arms are in one position of their rotation. When it is desired to move the boat over the ground surface, the crank arms 59 are rotated in the other direction to bring the wheels out of the wells for engagement with a ground surface 61. Any suitable means may be used to rotate and lock the wheel crank arms in the desired position. In the drawings I show an ordinary hand bar 62 secured to each of the arms and lockable to the adjacent pod by a cap screw 63.

The practical operation of the device is as follows: When the boat is in the water, the wheels will be retracted and the pontoon pods 10 and 11 will be extended as shown in FIG. 4. The platforms 39, 52 and 53 will provide the deck and personnel may walk completely around the cabin 55. When it is desired to remove the boat from the water for ground transportation, the wheels are placed in lowered positions, the railing cared for, the platform deck boards 52 and 53 are swung up and in, and the lever arm rotated to move the pods closer together, as shown for road travel. The deck boards 52 and 53 will lay to the sides of the cabin and the railings 56 are detached or folded. The drawbar connection is then secured to the pulling vehicle. When it is again desired to use the boat on water, the above described procedure is reversed.

When the pods are extended laterally away from each other, the boat when on water will have great stability and room. When the pods are placed more closely together, as shown in FIG. 2, the unit will be compact for normal road transportation.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my collapsible pontoon type boat without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

In a boat, a platform, a plurality of sleeve bars secured to the bottom of said platform, a bar slidably extending into one end of each of said sleeve bars, a pontoon pod secured to said bars, a bar slidably extending into the other end of each of said sleeve bars, a pontoon pod secured to said last mentioned bars, a shaft rotatably mounted on said platform, a plurality of crank arms on and laterally extending from said shaft, a rod pi-votally linking each of said crank arms to one of said pontoon pods, a second plurality of crank arms on and laterally References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 551,367 Cremer Dec. 17, 1895 1,490,964 Cook Apr. 22, 1924 1,747,563 Yonkese Feb. 18, 1930 2,727,484 White Dec. 20, 1955 2,775,218 Kapusnyk Dec. 25, 1956 2,850,747 Bouchard Sept. 9, 1958 2,851,705 Smith et al. Sept. 16, 1958 2,876,728 Luger Mar. 10, 1959 2,893,019 Renfroe et al. July 7, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,007 Great Britain Dec. 10, 1898 22,342 Sweden Apr. '27, 1907 OTHER REFERENCES The Rudder, vol. 72, No. 10, October 1956 (page 40 relied on). 

